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December 28, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Newton Kulani Purdy

“The ‘Polynesian Registry’ is a kind of who’s who and where of Hawaiians in New York”. (Lois Taylor, SB, Jan 9, 1963)

“In 1958 [Newton Kulani Purdy] founded the Polynesian Registry to help locals and expats keep up with each other, and has watched it grow from 50 names to more than 1,000, and his newsletter, which started out at two pages, is now more than 30.” (Donnelly, SB Dec 13, 2002)

“Newton Kulani Purdy was born Oct. 15, 1928, in Kalaupapa, Molokai. His father, Robert Waipa Purdy, was a leprosy patient who lived in Kalaupapa with Kulani’s mother, Marcy Kepalai Kinney. Kulani’s mother did not have leprosy but had volunteered to accompany his father to Kalaupapa to care for him as a family helper.”

“State law at the time required the separation of all children at birth from their parents. Most of the children grew up with other relatives or were taken to an orphanage. Immediately after Kulani was born, he was taken from his parents and was raised outside the Kalaupapa settlement by an aunt.”

“Though Kulani was born in Kalaupapa, his birth certificate listed his place of birth as Honolulu. This was a common practice by the Health Department for birth certificates of the children born in Kalaupapa. At the time it was done to spare children born at Kalaupapa the stigma of having a parent or parents with leprosy.” (Machado)

“Kulani attended Roosevelt High School but left before graduating to join the Army. He was in the Army for seven years, serving as an infantry soldier, military police officer and Army Signal Corps. At one point during his service in the Army, he served under Gen. “Ike” Eisenhower.”

“His final Army assignment was in New York City, where he was honorably discharged. He decided to stay in New York and ended up living there for more than 50 years.” (Machado)

“The Registry took five years to prepare and was originally the brain child of Honolulu born Kulani Purdy, 31, who combined his job as a cutter in New York’s garment district with his love – being with other Hawaiians and collecting lore about the Islands.”

“Kulani accidentally bumped into a cousin, Everett R Kinney, one night in New York and discovered that Everett was living nearby on Long Island. The encounter so impressed Purdy, that he deserted his collection of more than 200 books about Hawaii and set out to compile the Registry.”

“He enlisted a number of other Island ‘exiles’ in the endeavor, principally Cousin Everett and Ed Kenney, now one of the principals in Broadway’s ‘Flower Drum Song.’ … they want no profit and plan to plough any extra receipts back into enlarging the Registry”. (Adv, Dec 26, 1959)

“How often have you stood alone in the midst of a strange city and speculated about the people milling about you? And as you walked aimlessly along the streets, you suddenly bumped into a familiar face and miraculously, the city no longer seemed cold and unfriendly. Or, have you idly sat alone with your thoughts, wondering if per chance your unknown neighbors could be Islanders?”

“We believe that Islanders away from home sooner or later begin a quest for people and things that serve to make them feel a little more in Hawaii-foods, Island talk, an exchange of memories. Our cultural heritage is unique and we somehow like to be able to express it wherever we may be.”

“Who can be listed in this book? Anyone who comes from Polynesia. Island Friends throughout the world or anyone in the business world who deals with things typical of Island culture and interest.”

“Those who want their names to appear in the Registry need only notify the Registry of this intention, for there is no fee attached to this privilege.” (Polynesian Registry Inro by Edward Mana Keeney, SB Feb 2, 1960 )

“Intended basically to permit homesick Islanders to locate each other, the 44-page volume contains the names and ‘off-island’ addresses of 800 individuals and a listing of scores Polynesian clubs, restaurants, gift shops and service establishments. (SB, Dec 26, 1959)

Purdy’s newsletter, “The Polynesian Registry, kept Hawaiians who were living in the Big Apple in touch with one another. Hawaiians performing in the Hawaiian Room of the Lexington Hotel belonged to Kulani’s network. “

“They included: Mahi Beamer, Ray Kinney, Manu Kanemura Bentley, Mona Joy, Leilani Kaleikini, Betty Makia, Momi Kai Gustafson, Lei Becker, Joyce Ontai, Io Cabanos, Tutasi Wilson and Te Moana Makolo.”

“His newsletter also reached Hawaiians in Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland. ‘He also was an integral part of organizing Hawaiian luau in Central Park every May Day, and later held on June 1 as it was too cold in May,’ Hale Kaohu Rowland said.”

“‘The luaus are still being held. Kulani would have us gather at Nainoa and Pat Brett’s little restaurant called The Poi Bowl on 71st Street. Later on, we all met at Janu Cassidy’s shop called Radio Hula, in Soho, and also at The Symphony Cafe, a restaurant on 56th and 8th that my husband, Manny, and I had part-ownership,’ Hale said.” (Ben Wood)

“Kulani was a confirmed bachelor, and his ‘ohana consisted of all the ‘local’ expats in and around the New York area, extending into New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland.”

“He was known as the glue that held everyone together and was the first to reach out to homesick Hawaiians in Manhattan. Everyone knew him for his kindness and generosity.” (Machado)

Purdy left New York in 2006 to return home to Molokai; he died February 11, 2012 at the in Leahi Hospital at the age of 83.

December 27, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Waiakea

Every morning and evening
When upward turn we our eyes
High above stands Mauna Kea and
In the distance, the wide Pacific Ocean
Scenery so beautiful, inspiring, and tranquil,
Certainly is the pride of Yashiljima.

Aa the waves of the East and West
Beat upon the shore of our crescent bay,
The moonlight streams through the
shimmering leaves of the Yashi no ki.
This enlightening purity, we are
reminded to etch upon our hearts to keep.

Increasingly learn, let us all of us together,
For Americans of Japanese ancestry by birth we be,
And, as such, fulfill we must a calling of great significance.
Go forth then, and bring good name to
our Yashijima Nihongo Gakkoo.

(English translation of the Waiakea Japanese School alma mater)
(The message was: Learn to take the good of Japan and the good of America and serve your country well.)

“The Waiakea peninsula … was a compact community separated from Hilo by the Wailoa River.” (HTH Mar 7, 1994) “Waiakea town was the original. Everybody was living Waiakea town. From Kamehameha Avenue all the way to Coconut Island. So they used to call [Waiakea] ‘Yashijima.’ ‘Yashi’ is coconut, and ‘jima’ is [island].” (Hayato Okino)

“Many immigrants from Japan settled in Waiakea, making it a thriving community, nearly as popular as downtown Hilo.” (HTH, Feb 24, 1980) “A compact, cohesive and tightly knit community, Waiakea was predominantly Japanese but included other ethnic groups. The men worked primarily as fishermen and stevedores.” (HTH. Mar 31, 1999)

“Life was tough. Families were large and many lived frugally with little to spare. The Waiakea Social Settlement was the only organized social facility for the deprived children.” (HTH. Mar 31, 1999)

“A majority of the men who first settled there were fishermen from Oshima-gun, Yamaguchi-ken. As a result, a thriving fishing industry was started along Wailoa River.” (HTH, May 23, 1986) “And then … they started to move over to the Shinmachi area.” (Hayato Okino)

Between 1913 and 1946, the present green space between Hilo Iron Works towards the old Hilo town was Shinmachi (‘New Town’), a thriving neighborhood of small business owners who established many of Hawai‘i Island mainstays.

These include Hawaii Planing Mill, Atebara Potato Chips, S. Tokunaga Sports, Hilo Transportation, and Hilo Macaroni Factory (makers of the Saloon Pilot Cracker). (Lyman Museum)

“Waiakea was roughly bounded by Lihiwai Street, what is now Banyan Drive and Lanikaula Street. It also encompassed Waiakea Houselots with Manono as the main street and Mililani, Hinano and Laupaku as the side streets.” (HTH Mar 7, 1994)

“Waiakea Social Settlement was ‘Founded January 1, 1903, by the Hawaiian Evangelical Association, as the enlargement of a Sunday-school work already begun ‘to be a home-place for the community …’”

“‘… where all are welcome to partake of rest, social pleasure, mental food and spiritual nourishment; to help the children especially to be happy as well as good.’ Maintained by the Hawaiian Board of Missions and by subscriptions.”

“Maintains daily dispensary; Sunday school; ‘friendly talks’ on Sunday evenings; sewing school; music and culture classes; girls’ weaving class; women’s class (industrial and devotional); prayer meeting; reading room; socials; drills; visits; collecting savings; annual concert.” (Handbook of Settlements, 1911)

“The finishing touches are being put on the two new buildings of the Waiakea Social Settlement located on the corner of Kamehameha Ave. and Kilohana Street. These larger facilities will make possible an expansion of the services to the whole of the neighborhood. ‘It’s the place of the people,’ said a scout, referring to the Settlement.”

“The new facilities are making possible activities which heretofore were closed to them. A complete stage with make-up rooms will permit all sorts of performance for story acting to big time plays not to mention community meetings of all kinds.”

“The standard size gymnasium and showers will offer athletic facilities for boys’ and girls’ groups with a variety of sports from basketball to shuffleboard and games.”

“The new clinic and meeting rooms will make possible the improved services of cooperating agencies of the Board of Health, religious education, the University Extension Bureau, Baby Conference, Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts and Hilo Recreation Committee.” (HTH, Feb 1, 1939)

“Yashijima Nihongo-Gakkoo [Waiakea Japanese School] had its beginnings in 1904 in a Christian Mission in Waiakea Town, the Waiakea Social Settlement of later years.” (HTH, July 27, 1980)

The lyrics as the beginning of this summary are the alma mater for the Waiakea Japanese School. “The song had been very dear to the students. It had etched into their hearts and minds the destiny and the responsibilities of the Americans of Japanese Ancestry.”

“Singing it not only brought back fond as well as humorous memories of learning the Japanese language but also of the many activities which helped to mold their lives in preparation for the future.” (HTH, July 27, 1980)

The Waiakea Social Settlement which stood in the area just behind where the clock stands today was the hub of activities for the children of Waiakea. (Historical Marker Database)

“The village had two theaters, restaurants, general merchandise stores, grocery stores, meat markets, drug stores, coffee shop, barbershops, billiard parlor, poi factory, kamaboko factories, a transportation company, railroad depot and terminal with a tum-table in the middle of the Wailoa River …”

“… fish markets, sampans, garages, and Waiakea Kai School on Kilohana Street facing the Japanese school located on Kainehe Street. There was also Coconut Island and the landscaped park now called Liliuokalani Park, dry docks for sampans, and homes.” (HTH, July 27, 1980)

“Waiakea Social Settlement is a social work agency. By that definition its responsibility is to help people adjust to where they are or to be efficient as citizens. It is a group agency and thus helps people by the use of groups rather than as individuals As people came through the doors, there were achievements and failures.” (HTH, Apr 23, 1949)

Waiakea Social Settlement “Was a good place for a number of children that couldn’t make the – that the Boy Scouts couldn’t take in. They’ve become much broader lately.”

“You had to be a good boy to get into the Boy Scouts and there were too many youngsters that weren’t interested in being good boys – you know, parents were at fault – but the Waiakea Settlement would try to work with them.”

“I thought it was a splendid thing. Or anything like that, you know. I wish there had been something that could have taken in more girls than the YW did. You know, girls down at Keaukaha [Hawaiian homestead area in Hilo, Hawaii] and along in there that needed that kind of help. I think they’re getting more help now.” (Lorna Hooleia Jarrett Desha)

In 1958, the Waiakea Social Settlement board of trustees approved the settlement consolidation with the Hawaii County YMCA. The two agencies had been working together on a cooperative program for two years. (HTH, Oct 2, 1958)

Waiakea Social Settlement’s Clock was dedicated in 1939, in memory of Mrs CS Richardson; it adjoined the Settlement building. The clock was significantly damaged in the 1960 tsunami. It was refurbished and re-erected on this original concrete stand by the Waiakea Pirates Athletic Club in May, 1984.

The clock is significant to the people that grew up in the community. The time is stopped at 1:04 am when the clock itself was destroyed by the 3rd and largest wave. (Tsunami Museum) Today it serves as a symbol of the strength, courage. and resilience of the residents of Waiakea. (Historical Marker Database)

Waiakea Town, Yashijima, was never rebuilt after the 1960 tsunami. The golf course and park that you see today was once filled with homes, businesses and schools, all of which provided the backbone for a local economy of fishing, stevedoring, sugar, railroading and service industries. (Historical Marker Database)

December 26, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

About 250 Years Ago …Taxes, Taxes, Taxes

As we approach the semiquincentennial (250^th) anniversary of the forming of the United States, here is a brief summary of issues and actions that led to the Revolution and the Revolutionary War … this is about Taxes, Taxes, Taxes.

The French and Indian War was a clash of British, French and American Indian cultures. American Colonists were British citizens and fought side-by-side with the red coats.

The war started as a struggle for control of the land west of the Allegheny Mountains in the Ohio River Valley. (It was waged from 1754 to 1763.)

As the conflict spread, European powers began to fight throughout the world. It became a war fought on four continents: North America, Europe, Asia & Africa.

(The European portion of the war was called the Seven Years War.)

It ended with the removal of French power in North America.

The stage was set for the American Revolution. In a lot of respects, actions after the French and Indian war changed every-thing in the Colonies.

While the British won the war, it had been enormously expensive and left Great Britain with a heavy debt.

British government’s attempts to impose taxes on the Colonists to help cover those expenses resulted in increasing Colonial resentment.

The Colonists claimed they were equal to all other British citizens.

They felt they should be treated equally and argued that without representation in Parliament, Parliament could not tax them.

Parliament taxed and imposed import/export restrictions on the Colonies early and often (here are some):

Sugar Act (April 5, 1764)

Currency Act (April 19, 1764)

Stamp Act (March 22, 1765)

Quartering Act (Mar. 24, 1765)

Declaratory Act (Mar. 18, 1766)

Townshend Acts (June 5, 1767)

Tea Act (May 10, 1773)

Intolerable Acts (Mar. 31, 1774)

Mounting tensions came to a head during the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, when the “shot heard round the world” was fired.

It was not without warning; the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770 and the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773 showed the increasing dissatisfaction with British rule in the Colonies.

The Declaration of Independence, issued on July 4, 1776 stated the reasons the Colonists felt com-pelled to break from the rule of King George III and parliament to start a new nation.

In September of that year, the Continental Congress declared the “United Colonies” of America to be the “United States of America.”

France joined the war on the side of the Colonists in 1778, helping the Continental Army conquer the British at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781.

The American Revolutionary War in North America lasted from April 19, 1775 (with the Battles of Lexington and Concord) to September 3, 1783 (with the signing of the Treaty of Paris.)

It lasted 8 years, 4 months, 2 weeks and 1 day; then, the sover-eignty of the United States was recognized roughly by what is now Canada to the north, Florida to the south, and the Mississippi River to the west.

The Peace of Paris is a collection of treaties ending the American Revolution and signed by representatives of Great Britain on one side and the United States, France, and Spain on the other.

Click the following link to a general summary about Taxes, Taxes, Taxes.

Click to access Taxes-Taxes-Taxes-SAR-RT.pdf

December 24, 2024 by Peter T Young 4 Comments

Merry Christmas !!!

Let’s not forget the reason for the season. Merry Christmas!!!

Here is Willie K singing O Holy Night:

December 23, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Saved by Chairman Mao

Wake is a small tropical coral atoll in the Pacific Ocean consisting of three islands (Peale, Wake and Wilkes) enclosing a shallow, central lagoon and surrounded by a narrow fringing reef.

From reef to reef, the atoll is approximately 5 miles long and 2.5 miles wide. The atoll lies just west of the International Date Line and is about 2,460-miles west of Hawaiʻi, 1,600-miles east of Guam and 700-miles north of Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands.

The location of Wake Island made it a strategic location for both the US and Japan. It was recognized that if war broke out between Japan and the US, Wake could: provide for a defensive outpost; enable long range reconnaissance deep into enemy territory; enable the disruption of shipping; serve as staging ground for offensive operations and be utilized as an emergency air station. (Butowsky)

In August 1941, Marine and civilian workers began to construct barracks, defensive fortifications and an airfield. Wake Island was being transformed from a desolate expanse to a formidable military garrison.

In response to receiving coded messages indicating that Pearl Harbor was under attack, at 0650 on December 8 (December 7th Honolulu time,) 1941, a “call to arms” rang out across Wake. Just hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Wake was targeted by the forces of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Wake was defended by about 500-military personnel (about one-quarter of its intended size.) In addition, there were about 1,200-civilian workers on the atoll.

The atoll’s defenses included three artillery batteries, each with two 5-inch guns; three anti-aircraft batteries, each with four 3-inch guns; eighteen 50-caliber machine guns; and thirty 30-caliber machine guns, with an insufficient amount of military personnel to operate all of the weapons. (LOC)

Despite the earlier preparations, none of the defensive installations were sufficiently completed by the time of the Japanese attack. (The facilities were estimated to have been only 65-percent finished.)

The first attack was successfully repelled. A secondary attack occurred on December 11, but a small force of American soldiers managed to once again fight the Japanese off.

The island finally fell on December 23, 1941; more than 700-Japanese were killed during the attacks, while only 52-US military personnel lost their lives.

(A sad side story notes that on October 7, 1943 when the Japanese saw subsequent invasion of Wake, Rear Admiral Shigematsu Sakaibara ordered the execution of the 98-American civilian’prisoners. They were taken to one side of the island and shot with machine guns.)

(One prisoner escaped and carved a memorial into a large rock “98 US PW 5-10-43;” it’s still there. This prisoner was caught and also executed shortly after. After the war, Sakaibara and his subordinate, Lieutenant-Commander Tachibana, were sentenced to hang for this massacre.)

The result of losing the Battle of Wake Island in 1941 was 1,616-Americans being captured and most in turn being evacuated then to Japan and even China. Among the survivors was William Lorin Taylor, a 24-year-old civilian construction worker who was signed on with Morrison-Knudsen Company for a nine-month construction job.

In January 1942, Taylor and hundreds of other civilian and military prisoners were shipped to mainland China in the cargo hold of an ocean liner. After 10-months at a POW camp on the Yangtze River, Taylor was moved to a larger camp nearby, where he spent the next 2 1/2 years.

Taylor and the other prisoners were aware that if US troops invaded Japan and China, the Japanese would likely kill their prisoners, and themselves, before surrendering. Fearing he would die if he didn’t escape, Taylor was always on the lookout for a chance to flee. One finally came, when he and his fellow prisoners were loaded onto trains bound for the coast and, eventually, Japan. (Griggs)

“It was May 9, 1945, in Shanghai, China. We were being herded into railway cars like animals. The talk was that we were being transferred to POW camps on the mainland Japan, camps that were notorious for their malicious treatment of prisoners – starving them, beating them, and working them to the bone.”

“I felt that this was not a good move for us. This period of transit was my best – maybe my only – opportunity for escape and perhaps survival. So I made a critical decision in that railway car. Then I pulled out my pliers and got to work”. (Taylor)

“At about eleven o’clock that night, I started working on the window with my pliers. There was a bedroll hung from the roof of the car and this partially shielded the upper half of my body as I worked on the window. Every half hour the guard would count us off.”

“One time when he came in, he shined his light twice on me. He must have become suspicious because the second time, he let it linger on me for awhile. I knew I was in a pretty tight spot and that he was watching me pretty closely, so I just pretended I was getting enough fresh air and then turned around and sat down. When I sat down, the guard turned his light off.” (Taylor)

Aided by fellow prisoners who kept an eye on the guards, Taylor and another man (Jack Hernandez) climbed out the window of a cramped railway car about 1 am and leapt out. The train was moving about 40 mph, and Taylor injured his ankle in the fall. He was lucky; Hernandez broke his leg. Hearing search dogs, Taylor reluctantly left his friend behind and hobbled away alone. (Later, he learned Hernandez had survived the war.)

“I was captured three times. I’m not an especially brave person. And I don’t think I really did anything special. I had luck and help.” (Taylor)

Skirting villages, sleeping in wheat fields and aided by kindly peasants, Taylor made his way across China. Once he was captured by Chinese soldiers sympathetic to Japan, but escaped moments later, fleeing on a zigzag course to avoid gunshots.

The next day he was found by Communist Party troops, who he quoted as saying: “You’re OK now, we are friends with the Americans.” They ferried him to safety and, eventually, he had a meeting with their leader, Chairman Mao Tse-tung.

The two men had a brief conversation through an interpreter, during which Taylor praised the Chinese people and told Mao he would never forget their kindnesses. Three weeks later, Taylor was back home. Twelve days after that, US dropped the bomb on Hiroshima.

Taylor later wrote a book, ‘Rescued by Mao: World War II, Wake Island, and My Remarkable Escape to Freedom Across Mainland China.’ “He was an impressive man,” said Taylor. Of the Communists, he said simply, “They saved my life.” (SF Chronicle)

After the war, Taylor, a devout Mormon, was asked to move to North Las Vegas to be the bishop of the Fourth Ward. He supervised the building of the Fourth Ward Chapel and served as bishop until 1960, when he became president of the Las Vegas North Stake. He also served as Mayor of North Las Vegas from 1961-1968.

Taylor has Hawaiʻi ties. In 1982, he moved to Hawaiʻi, where he continued his construction trade and built 90-homes on Maui (he reportedly lived in Upcountry.) Involved in Boy Scouts wherever he lived, he was board chairman for the Maui Council for Eagle Scouts.

The Boy Scouts of America presented him with the Silver Beaver Award for his work with scouts in Las Vegas, Maui and Provo. The Department of Navy awarded Taylor the Legion of Merit with a V for Valor.

He retired to Utah, his birth state, in the early 1990s. Folks referred to him as the “Flag Man.” (He watched as the Japanese took down the American flag and stomped on it back in 1941. He never forgot that moment; he placed flag poles and American flags at many of the homes in his neighborhood and other homes. (Daily Herald)) William Lorin Taylor was born May 18, 1917; he died May 25, 2011.